Life of a Hero
by TheEliteLabRatsLover
Summary: Barry has always struggled with the line between being a CSI and the Flash, while also trying to take care of himself in the process. But after the Singularity, he struggles to repair the city and somehow manage the grief that consumes him. Taking care of himself becomes his lowest priority. Does that matter to him? No. But it matters to everyone else...
1. Chapter 1

**Yep, yet another multi-chapter story headed your way. ;P But don't worry; I've got it all written, I just need to fix certain parts, and kind of "sparkle it up" for you guys. Does that even make sense? Eh, whatever. I just woke up so I'm probably not thinking clearly, lol. Anyway, this is for all of you Singh lovers, and lovers of Singh finding out Barry's secret. Ya' know who who you are. ;P**

 **And this is set pretty much right after the Singularity, but a little ways from it so that everybody has had time to grieve. Well, except Barry. You'll find out what I mean by reading the story. ;) And also! I want to give a shout-out to who is awesome, and has some killer stories going on, so yeah, go check out that account after this. ;D (Okay, so apparently the name isn't showing up. :/ It's a "g" and then a "c", and then a period, before the word "flash".)**

 **Disclaimer: I own no part of this, now, or probably ever, so stop grillin' me.**

* * *

"Barry, I'm not going to say this again; you have _got_ to start taking better care of yourself!" Caitlin exclaimed as Barry slowly sat up from the hospital bed, clutching his head gingerly with a grimace on his face.

He had just come back from another mission against a meta-human whose only power, was basically to use somebody's own injury against them. As in, if somebody was lightheaded, the villain would make it ten times worse, and/or escalate it into something much worse.

Or if somebody had a sprain in their wrist, the meta-human could either make it feel like a fracture, it was broken, or it was entirely shattered.

And Barry had just rushed right over, much to his team's dismay, and had tried to capture the guy because he was terrorizing a small neighborhood right off of Central City's borders. Nobody had even known exactly what the guy could do at that time.

Needless to say, Barry had gotten beaten rather unpleasantly, barely making it back to Star Labs before he collapsed. He thankfully had made it out all right, but it was while he was unconscious and recovering that Caitlin and Cisco had made a discovery.

He hadn't been eating near enough, and had pushing himself way past his limit. Including running too much, and not getting hardly any sleep. Barry sighed as Caitlin continued to fuss; Cisco watching from a little ways away, sympathy for Barry written on his face, even though he one-hundred percent agreed with Caitlin.

"You have got to stop acting like you're invincible. Going after that guy, when you were already beyond exhausted, was a stupid move, Barry, and you know it. You are _not_ invincible. With all of your fatigue, and everything else that is going on with you, he could have killed you in an instant."

"I can not stress enough how important it is to take care of yourself, Barry. Like I said before; you are _not invincible_." She declared and he sighed as rubbed a hand over his face before looking up at her.

"I know that I'm not invincible. I'm fully aware of that. But that-that man was injuring innocent, and helpless civilians; I couldn't just stand by and let that happen when I could _do something about it_. At least distract him. I'd rather take the beating myself, rather than let others get inured and you know it." He said, and she and Cisco shared a look, before Caitlin sighed.

"I know. It's just, try to think a little bit before, next time, okay?" She asked, the exhaustion seeping through in her voice, as he nodded distractedly, jaw clenched and a look on his face that they were all too familiar with. He'd been this way ever since the Singularity.

He was almost more...selfless?

If that made sense.

It was almost as if he was, taking more and more chances, working himself to the bone. And it was starting to get out of hand.

They both knew that Barry wasn't about to start listening to them; he would continue to wear himself down, further and further, until his body couldn't take it anymore and eventually gave out. And as much as they feared that happening; they knew it was coming.

She walked back over towards Cisco, looking back for a moment to see Barry lying back down, closing his eyes with a small wince. She sighed, before turning her attention back towards the monitors in front of her.

The only way Barry would learn, was if he learned it the hard way. And both Cisco and Caitlin, not to mention the others like Joe and Iris, knew that it was coming.

And it was only a matter of time before he collapsed.

* * *

Barry jogged down the stairway and into the kitchen where both Joe and Iris quietly sat eating breakfast. It had been that way for a while, now. Nobody talking, nobody smiling.

"Hey, Joe," Barry started, causing Joe's head to come up at the mention of his name. "I'm going to go on in to the CCPD early. I've got a case that I want to get started on." Barry said and Joe frowned as he looked at him.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?" Joe questioned, and at just the mere thought of food, Barry's stomach felt nauseous.

"Uh, no, I'll make up for it with lunch. I'm not that hungry." He stated. It was true. He wasn't hungry at all. In fact, he feared that if he ate anything, he might just throw it back up. After saying that, Iris looked up, worry furrowing her eyebrows.

"You're always hungry. Plus you have to eat; with your metabolism the way it is." She said and he sighed.

"Yeah, I know. But I also know when it's best and necessary for me to eat, and right now is not that time." Barry stated simply and Joe and Iris exchanged a glance.

"You skipped dinner, last night." Joe declared and Barry sighed while rubbing a hand over his face.

"I know, just, look, I'm going to be late at this rate, so I'll tell you what; I'll make up for breakfast and dinner with lunch. Okay?" He questioned, and after a few moments hesitation, Joe and Iris nodded.

"Okay. But I'm gonna' make sure that you make good on that promise," Joe stated and Barry nodded absently as he headed towards the door.

"Alright, see ya' guys later." He said before opening the door and flashing to work; leaving Iris and Joe shaking their heads. He stumbled as he came to a stop by an alley a block away from work. He pressed his forearm to the brick wall to balance himself, and blinked several times; trying to erase the fuzzy, black spots dancing across his vision. He swallowed thickly, feeling overly nauseous suddenly.

He waited a few moments, taking a couple of deep breaths to erase his nausea and lightheadedness.

Barry slowly shook his head, before taking a careful step and continuing his way to the CCPD. He rounded the corner of some old hotel, and walked down the sidewalk to the CCPD; ignoring everything that had just happened.

He was probably just tired...since he had hardly slept at all the past two weeks for various reasons.

He walked into the doors, smiling at every officer that greeted him, before heading up to his lab. He opened the door and walked over to his desk, glancing out the window once, before sitting down and sighing.

Barry pressed his knuckles to his forehead, clenching his jaw as the pain radiated off his head. He didn't understand how his head could feel like a cement block was pounding against it, yet feel as if it was floating, due to his lightheadedness. He winced once, shaking is head lightly, and ignoring his headache, before beginning to analyze the case on his desk.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

He had been correct.

The day had turned out to be even worse than he had expected.

His headache did _not_ want to go away, in fact, it seemed to be worsening by the hour. And it wasn't exactly like he could take any Tylenol or anything for it. And then, to make matters worse, Joe had shown up an hour or two later, and had brought Barry lunch; sitting down and watching him eat every last bit of it.

Which, as soon as Joe had left, satisfied by his accomplishment to get Barry to eat, Barry had thrown the sandwich back up into a nearby trash can. He hadn't meant to...but right now, he just couldn't seem to keep any food in his stomach.

At all.

So, after disposing of his trash can without Joe or anybody else noticing, thanks to his super-speed, which was a definite curse and blessing, because it had both gotten him into that predicament and out, he had gone back up to his lab; somehow feeling simultaneously better and worse after throwing up.

But to make matters even _more_ worse, Captain Singh had called him into his office to go over the case with him.

So he slowly made his way over to Singh's office, feeling nauseous yet extremely lightheaded the whole way, until he had walked into his office. He closed the door behind him, wincing as the contact between the door and the frame connected, aggravating his headache even more.

"You wanted to go over the case with me?" Barry questioned and Singh nodded as he looked up from his desk.

"Yeah. We just got some more Intel, and we suspect some foul play was involved." Singh stated and Barry nodded, ignoring the blackened spots on the side of his vision from the movement. He reached out and placed a file of the case on the table, his vision darkening even more.

"I had figured that, because if you look at the," A sharp pain suddenly shot through his head and he stumbled forward as he walked, somehow managing to upright himself by gripping onto the table as his vision turned to basically nothing. He grimaced with a taut jaw as the pain coursed through his skull. His knuckles were turning white because he was gripping the table so hard.

"Allen, are you okay?" Singh was apparently asking, but Barry could barely hear it over the ringing in his own ears. He swallowed hard and blinked several times, clearing his vision for only a few moments as it came pulsating back. It was just enough for him to notice that Singh had gotten up from his chair and moved over to his side.

"Yeah, I, uh," He swallowed hard, knowing that he would normally be embarrassed for showing such weakness, except that the _pain would just not go away_.

It had been bad enough that the pain had been in his head, but suddenly an overwhelming white hot pain seemed to stab the back of his skull, before abruptly coursing through his limbs; sending fire across his entire body. His knees buckled slightly, but he refused to fall.

He could distantly hear Singh's voice in the background, but as another sharp, and abrupt rocket of pain exploded throughout his entire body, he found it impossible to even begin to comprehend what he was saying.

He felt the hand that was on his shoulder- _how did that even get there?-_ leave suddenly, and vaguely heard footsteps moving away from him.

His stomach and heart seemed to simultaneously lurch, as the pain blossomed in his head, and it was then that his grip faltered, and he unceremoniously stumbled to the floor in a heap of pain.

The last thing he heard was somebody shouting his name, before he fell into a world of oblivion.

* * *

 **...Well? What'd ya' think? I swear that I end all of my stories like this...so let's try something new. I'll start asking you all a question at the end; I love getting to know you guys. ;) Let's start off simple:**

 **What's your favorite color? It's a toss up for me; probably either blue or red, though.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! It's been a while, huh? Yeah, sorry about that. But speaking of which, J would really like it if all of you could head on over to my profile sometime, and read the top part in bold, as it will explain everything. It's SUPER important. So, please do that. :) Anywho, I can't believe what a big success this was! Thank you all so much! It means literally so much to me! So thank you! :)**

 **RosettaQueen20: Thank you! I hope you like this as well!**

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 **Brentinator: It really is a good color.**

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 **: Here ya' are!**

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 **Dragonsinthemoonlight: Ooh, yes, red and black are awesome colors! Really? Aww, yess, that makes me so happy to hear that you like it! And sammmeee. There is just something about those two things that I am a complete sucker for, haha. And yeah, I really hope to update it soon!**

 **BusyBunny: OH MY GOD this review literally has me smiling so big! :D This literally means so much to me and I'm so glad that I can do that for you ;)**

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 **TeddyBear98: XD It's always a never fail that your reviews always make me laugh/smile. Aww, but you love me anyway, despite my cruelties. ;P I LOVE pink! But like, what kind of pink? Lol, just curious**

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 **And to all the guests: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR AWESOME REVIEWS!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing of the sorts, otherwise I sure as heck wouldn't be writing just fanfic.**

* * *

Being a police officer, Singh noticed any small change of behavior, or anything out of the ordinary.

So, of course, he had noticed the recent changes in between two of his employees; Joe West and Barry Allen.

Joe seemed to be more worried about Barry, watching him closely and constantly checking in on him. And although, this seemed to happen quite frequently lately, it would usually only last for a day or two. But now, Joe seems to be keeping a close eye on Barry almost constantly.

And David is beginning to understand why.

Instead of just letting it be, and leaving the unusual interaction go between father and son, he decided that he himself, would start paying attention to Barry's behavior.

After all, that's what made him the police officer that he is today. And he now understood why, exactly, Joe seemed to be worried about Barry.

David noticed that Barry was certainly acting out of it, his movements seemed to either be erratic or just plain sluggish, fluctuating back and forth frequently. He seemed to have a lot more head aches, and stumbled a lot more.

Not to mention the fact that Barry was certainly a lot thinner than he used to be. Singh had noticed all of this behavior simply in Barry's _handwriting_. It was jerky, and thick. Not the usually neat handwriting that he was used to Barry doing.

Things were even more of a mess in his lab, and he was early for work more often, yet late more often, somehow. Singh made a mental note to question the both of them after work. But now, he had a case to worry about. Barry showed up almost immediately after he called him in, looking worse for wear, and the grimace on his face from the door shutting, did not go amiss by Singh.

"You want to go over the case with me?" Barry asked and Singh looked away from his paperwork, and to the- _way too thin_ -Barry Allen in front of him. How had he not noticed how skinny the kid was, before?

"Yeah." Singh began, knocking himself out of his dazed stupor. "We just got some more Intel, and we suspect some foul play was involved." Singh finished and Barry nodded.

"I had figured that, because if you look at the," Barry stopped abruptly as he began to walk forward and place the folder on his desk, except he suddenly stumbled, and just barely managed to catch himself on the Singh's desk.

David immediately stood up and moved to Barry's side, worry immediately filling him by the pained frown on his face, and how his knuckles were turning white as he clutched onto the desk. Singh gently placed his hand on the kid's shoulder, to try and offer some sort of comfort; feeling completely out of place doing so.

"Allen, are you okay?" Singh asked, the worry in his voice not failing to show up. Barry swallowed hard, and blinked a few times. He briefly nodded, but immediately grimaced.

"Yeah, I, uh," He swallowed hard again, and David could tell that he was _definitely_ lying. He never was very good at it. Suddenly, a sharp cry of pain escaped past Barry's lips as his knees buckled, and he barely managed to catch himself on the desk, before he fell.

Now _that_ worried Singh enough to do something, as he realized,that _this was not good_. This was bad. _Very bad_.

"Barry, I'm going to go get help, alright? Barry?" He asked again when Barry didn't even respond.

Singh immediately headed towards the door in a hurry, his face impassive, but his movements fast and alert, when he suddenly heard a horrible crashing sound behind him, and turned just in time to see Barry's grip loosen as he stumbled and fell to the ground; his head hitting the ground, as it lolled to the side, his eyes closing as he lost consciousness.

"Barry!" Singh shouted, fear racing up and down his spine, and as much as he wanted to rush to his side, he continued his path out the door. He grabbed the side of the door frame as he stepped out, immediately spotting Joe; just the person that he wanted.

"West!" He yelled, his voice calm even though he fought the urgency out of it, and Joe looked up, thus causing David to motion for him to come in immediately.

 _Maybe this isn't serious._

The optimistic side of him reasoned.

 _Maybe it is._

The officer side of him reasoned back.

Joe immediately came over, as Singh moved back to Barry's side, gently rolling him onto his back and into a more flat position; the kid being unresponsive the whole time.

"Oh my God..." A quiet voice stated from the doorway, and David glanced up to see Joe, eyes wide at the sight, before immediately moving to his son's side. "What happened?" Joe asked as Singh pressed his fingers to Barry's neck, right under his chin, to see what his heart rate was, and found it to be slow and sluggish.

"I'm not sure, he just, collapsed. Fainted." Singh explained, before sighing and removing his hand. "His pulse is sluggish, but other than that there seems to be no external bodily damage. Although, he might have a small concussion." Singh stated, and out of corner of his eye saw Joe tense up. He didn't know what Joe knew. A sluggish heartbeat for a speedster meant hardly a heartbeat at all.

"This is bad, this is... _very_ bad." Joe mumbled, running a hand over his mouth.

"I'll call an ambulance-" Singh started saying as he stood up and headed towards the phone, but Joe cut him off.

"No! We need to get him to Star Labs; right now." Joe declared, and David frowned.

"Why Star Labs? Wouldn't a hospital be a bit more, oh, I don't know, _safer_?" He asked and Joe sighed as he shook his head.

"We don't have time for this. _Barry_ doesn't have the time for this. Just grab the damn phone, call Star Labs and tell them that I'm bringing Barry in. Tell them everything that happened." Joe said, and David was stunned for only a short moment by the way Joe was speaking to him, before doing exactly as told; knowing that he'd be the same way.

Although, he found it more than a little odd that they would bring him to Star Labs. He knew Star Labs' number by heart now; often having to call them to find Joe.

Dr. Snow's words were calm, but the urgency in them did not go amiss by David. He wondered just exactly how serious this was. When he finished, he turned back to find Joe trying to get Barry into a position that they could bring him to Joe's car.

Without saying a word, Singh moved over to the motionless son and worrying father, helping him to get Barry into more of a suitable position, before picking him up; surprised by how, surprisingly, heavy the kid was.

A distant thought of- _wouldn't a gurney be easier?_ -ran across his mind, but he knew that they didn't have the time to go and get one from the room upstairs.

They both ignored the looks and questions they received, but were both grateful when a few officers actually came and helped them bring him to the car, wordlessly, although Singh knew that they were just dying to ask what was happening.

They would have a lot of questions to answer later. Singh still didn't understand, himself, why exactly, the situation seemed to be so serious. Barry seemed to be relatively fine, but with the way Joe was acting, he was obviously not.

Maybe Joe was just being overprotective...but something told David that he was not.

Joe immediately hopped in the driver's seat of his squad car, and Singh moved around to the other side to climb in.

"Captain, I don't think-" He began but Singh cut him off.

"I'm going, West. If the CCPD needs me, they'll call me, but you're going to need help when you reach Star labs, so you just drive." He declared and Joe nodded, chancing one last glance at his kid lying in the back, sweat beginning to glisten on his forehead, before slamming his foot onto the gas pedal and driving as fast as he possibly could to get to Star Labs in time.

Singh would have reprimanded his driving and his speed, because _for God's sake, he was a police officer_ , but decided against it, because he, himself, would be the exact same way in this situation. "Turn on your lights; you'll be able to go faster." Singh decided to say, instead and Joe nodded, doing as told.

Sirens and flashing blue and red lights went off suddenly, signaling their hurry. Singh also felt the need to go, because he was a witness as to what had happened, and could help in case they needed it.

Within seven minutes, they had arrived at Star Labs, when it usually took twice that time.

Joe pulled sharply into the parking lot, and straight to the entrance of the building where Dr. Snow and Cisco Ramon, he thinks that was his name, were standing, a gurney at the ready, and David was slightly shocked as to how prepared they were. It was almost as if they were used to this.

But they couldn't be, _right_?

Joe stopped the car abruptly, right in front of the building, and they both got out immediately.

Cisco seemed a little bit confused about Singh being there, but decided against questioning it. Joe opened the car door, and both he and David attempted to take Barry out of the back without jostling him too much.

Caitlin and Cisco both wheeled the gurney over, as both Joe and David placed Barry onto it. Caitlin and Cisco immediately started wheeling him away, Cisco pausing once to motion for the two of them to come along.

As they rushed him away, Joe and David stayed by their side, helping as much as they could; opening doors, pushing the gurney, grabbing tools, and answering questions. Which, most were directed towards him, as they wanted to know _exactly_ what was happening.

He still didn't quite understand why they were freaking out so much...this wasn't that bad, was it?

Was it so bad because of the lightning?

Did Barry have some sort of illness because of the lightning strike and coma?

Singh didn't have a clue.

He just hoped and prayed not. As late as the kid often was, David was still fond of him. They moved his limp body onto a hospital bed, as Dr. Snow began to hook an IV up to Barry, and hook up the heart monitor. And that's when it happened.

Barry's arm jerked first, and then his chest and stomach started contracting, as his legs kicked and his arms jerked even more; sending everybody into a panic.

Caitlin immediately turned him onto his side, yelling at Cisco to do something or other...Singh wasn't entirely sure.

He couldn't focus on anything other than the horrible, choking sound coming from Barry's mouth as his back arched and his head rolled from side to side, even though they attempted to put him on his side. His eyes remained closed, through out the entire seizure.

Caitlin continued to, as gently as she could, take out the IV and the heart monitor, which suddenly began to beep wildly. Which, little did he know, was a good sign.

"Joe, give me your jacket," She said, voice firm yet fear lacing her words, and he eagerly complied, willing to do something, _anything_ to help his son.

"One minute," Cisco suddenly announced as he watched a clock nearby, and Singh realized what Caitlin had been saying to Ramon. Singh could do nothing but stand there as he watched it all play out; Barry's body spasming wildly.

Suddenly, about a minute later, causing them all to start to really worry, Barry's body simultaneously went limp.

A thin layer of sweat glistened on his forehead, and Caitlin gently rolled him onto his back again; his head lolling slowly to the side in his unconscious state. Joe sighed as he rubbed both hands over his face, exhaustion seeping in. After a few more moments, Dr. Snow spoke up.

"He should be fine, once I get the IV back in. But it's a good thing you brought him in when you did," Dr. Snow said, voice layered with relief, even though she tried to hide it, as she continued to place the IV in his arm again. Joe collapsed in a nearby chair, shaking his head lightly.

"Why-why did he have a seizure? He hasn't had one of those since he was in a coma." Joe stated and Caitlin shrugged lightly; everyone almost acting as if Singh wasn't there. But with all of the good he was currently doing, he might as well not be.

"I'm guessing it was because his body was too exhausted, and the stress and fatigue had finally caught up with him." She sighed. "I knew that this was coming," She said quietly. "I'm just glad that it wasn't as bad as I had expected." Caitlin declared and David frowned. How can you get much worse than this? Unless...he didn't want to think about that.

"So, he will be okay?" Singh asked, speaking up for nearly the first time. Caitlin nodded with a small smile.

"He'll be fine, Mr. Singh. He's a quick healer." She said and Cisco snorted quietly as he checked something on his tablet and sat down on the side of Barry's bed.

"What the heck just happened? I mean, I'm really confused, right now." David admitted, shaking his head lightly. "Does Barry have some sort of... _illness_ from the lightning strike? I mean, why would this happen? And it's almost as if you are all used to it." He asked, finally voicing the silent questions that had been circulating in his brain for the past twenty minutes.

Joe, Dr. Snow, and Ramon all exchanged an uneasy look. Caitlin discreetly nodded her head along with Cisco, and Joe inhaled as he stood up and looked over at the very confused captain.

"He doesn't have an...illness, Singh. But the, uh, the lightning strike _changed_ him, in a...certain way." Joe fumbled slightly over his words, and David raised his eyebrows, glancing over at Caitlin who sighed with a knowing glance back at Cisco.

"What Mr. West means, Captain, is that the lightning strike that occurred from the particle accelerator explosion, seems to have scrambled Barry's DNA." Dr. Snow said, with a hopeful smile behind her words. Singh frowned. It scrambled his DNA..? What did that mean, exactly?

He stood there for only a few moments, when it finally dawned on him; leaving him feeling absolutely ridiculous for not knowing _sooner_ , and leaving him feeling absolutely stunned. Somehow all at the same time. David's eye widened as he looked at each of the occupants in the room.

"Wait...are you saying that Allen's a... _meta-human_?" He asked incredulously, and Joe wore another look of uneasiness.

"Well, not just _any_ meta-human...he's sort of, um," He hesitated, sighing. Caitlin offered him an encouraging smile. "Maybe it'd be best if I just show you..." Joe said, gesturing towards the hallway for Singh to head down it. David frowned, glancing back at Joe who just sighed, before going that way; being closely followed by Joe.

When he reached the end, he proceeded by entering another room of the cortex. He didn't understand why Joe brought him here, that is, until he saw _it_. And then he's completely dumbfounded, that all he can do is stand there and gape at the Flash's uniform.

"...You're...you're kidding. You have to be," He stated after a few moments of shock, but when he glanced back at Joe, he knew that he wasn't. "How..? I mean, just _how_ can Barry Allen be the Flash?" David shook his head with a frown when all Joe did was sigh.

He felt himself, rather than _made_ himself take a few feet closer to the suit, before just continuing to stare at it. "I thought that something weird was going on with him, but... _this_ I did not see coming." He said, and Joe walked up beside him.

"Something has been going on with him. Ever since the uh, Singularity, and everything that happened..." Joe paused, and Singh knew that there was a lot more to that story. "Barry hasn't been the same. It's as if the weight of the world is on his shoulders. You know how he can be with carrying everyone's burdens, and becoming the Flash and then the Singularity just made everything so much worse."

"He's hardly been eating anything, and with being the Flash, his metabolism is a _lot_ faster, so he needs to contain a ton more calories. Plus, he's been trying to right all of what he thinks he did wrong while still being the Flash and a CSI." Joe paused with a heavy sigh. "I guess it's just the life of a hero." Singh frowned at all of the news.

"I can't believe I never even knew...I shouldn't have been so hard on him." Singh suddenly said, feeling guilt root it's way in his stomach.

"David, don't-...don't blame yourself for not noticing, and for being so hard on him. Don't blame yourself for any of that. There was no way you could have known. I just wanted you to understand why things were so serious today with Barry fainting and everything. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty." Singh didn't respond; not agreeing with Joe's words.

Barry Allen, the clumsy, goofy and joyful CSI, was the Flash...how was that even _possible_?

The kid that Singh had known for as long as he can remember, _kid_ , was a superhero...Singh shook his head with a frown. It just wasn't _possible_...was it?

He still remembered the first time he had met Iris's new friend 'Bartholomew' Allen- _"Really, Iris?" "Sorry, Barr."_ -, the night of Barry's mother's murder, the day that Joe had told David about his 'adopting' of the boy, and the first day that fourteen year old Barry Allen came into the precinct, a bright smile on his face as he learned about what would be his future workplace.

He remembered _all_ of it.

He remembered the day they were at a crime scene three years ago- _that was three years ago?_ -and a twenty one year old Barry was taken at gunpoint by a crazed murderer who just happened to be the revenge seeking brother of the deceased man at the scene.

He still remembered every officer's gun being trained on the man whose own gun was pressed firmly into Barry's temple as he shouted crazily and threatened the boy's life. David remembered how Joe's hands shook as he clutched onto his pistol; fearing for his adopted son's life. But what he remembered the clearest?

Was the look in Barry's eyes as the madman had snuck up and grabbed him by the throat, all while pressing the gun to his head. It was pure _fear_. And it would always bother David that the man had managed to grab Barry when he was literally _surrounded_ by cops; Singh included.

He remembers the way the man had thrown Barry to the ground, and shot off a warning shot in the air for anyone that followed him; even though there had been a dozen cops on the scene. But the reason nobody could go after him being that he still had his loaded gun trained on the young CSI, until he was completely out of sight.

David also remembers the way Joe had clung onto the shaken kid, who seemed to be in shock over what had happened, while also trying to calm his adopted father by saying _"I'm alright, Joe. I-I'm okay."_.

Singh remembers the guilt eating away at him until the day they finally caught the criminal, and how he refused to have Barry go out on another case for an entire month. And how Singh could constantly find Joe watching over his son in subtle ways, a silent agreement from everyone in the precinct about protecting their young CSI.

Something like that shouldn't have happened; not with all of the cops there. Singh still couldn't believe that Barry had come out of that ordeal with only a few minor scrapes and a bloodied forehead from hitting the pavement when the guy had shoved him down. But what David couldn't believe the _most_?

Was that _that kid_ , was _the Flash_.

The Flash who had faced death so many times and just barely made it out-which Singh was sure that the Flash had had even more incidents then the public even knew-was the same CSI that worked for David. He made a mental note to thank Dr. Snow and Mr. Ramon for saving the kid's life so many times.

"..David? You all right?" Joe asked slowly as he walked up beside him. _"I'm alright, Joe. I-I'm okay."_ Singh shook his head, snapping himself out of his daze, before nodding.

"Y-yeah...just a lot to take in." He stated and he could see the other man nodding out of the corner of his eye, before Joe placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I'm going to go back, in case Barry wakes up. Take your time," Joe said and Singh nodded before the other man began to walk out of the room. This seemed so surreal.

Here David was, standing in the room where the Flash's suit was, while the Flash, himself- _Barry Allen_ -, lies unconscious from fainting in Singh's office and having a seizure...what was his life, anymore? He ran a hand over his face, taking one last glance at the mannequin, before heading out of the room.

This sure had been an... _interesting_ day.

He huffed quietly as he walked down the hall and back into the room where Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, and Barry- _the Flash_ -were.

Leave it to Barry Allen to make his day more interesting.

He watched for a few moments as Mr. Ramon, Joe, and Dr. Snow all talked, and set things up better with Barry, and found that he couldn't believe how everything ran so smoothly.

And not smooth as in no mistakes, more as in, they were like a well-experienced team that knew everything that they needed to do, and all could do it without a single word spoken between them. He marveled at the fact that this had been going on for months.

A _year_ even. David glanced at the young man lying on the bed, and felt a heavy sigh escape past his lips. He'd definitely have to have a talk with him when he woke up.

But for now, Singh needed to head back to the precinct to take care of a few things and answer what he is expecting to be a ton of questions when he gets back. After all, the precinct was protective of their youngest CSI.

And it was Singh's job to make sure that all of their questions get answered. The next time he sees Barry, Singh decided, he would have a talk with him.

After all, it was his duty to keep _all_ of his officers safe.

* * *

 **Hopefully that was worth the wait!**

 **Question time!**

 **Favorite Flash Character: Gosh this is tough for me, but probably Barry. I adore him! But Cisco is so good, and just arggh I don't know. WHY DO I PICK SUCH HARD QUESTIONS!?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Look who's back!? This is the FINAL part! *wipes brow off with hand* Whew. Thank goodness. The response I've gotten on this story is just, agh, it means so much! I'm so glad you all like it so much! Thank you all! :D I'm kinda' sad that it's over actually, haha, but maybe now I can be more focused on the rest of my stories! Here's hoping. ;P**

 **SavannahSmiles: It totally counts haha. Ahh, Leonard is the best. *thumbs up***

 **WhiteTigerYay: THANK YOU! And oh, yes he is awesome. ;D**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned all of this, then I wouldn't need a job, so there.**

* * *

Singh had been correct when he had suspected a lot of questions from his fellow officers. Everybody wanted to know what had happened, and if Barry was all right, and what had caused this 'incident'.

He had said that he wasn't allowed to give out that information, other than being able to say that Barry was, indeed, okay, and that it wasn't serious enough that Barry wouldn't be able to come in the next day. And David and Joe had both agreed over the phone that night, that he wouldn't give Barry as much work; they had other CSI's who were capable of handling it.

And they had also agreed that their cover story would be that Barry had overworked himself with the cases, and hadn't been taking proper care of himself, since he was trying to finish all of the cases due to the Singularity.

That added with stress, and exhaustion had thus caused Barry to collapse in the Precinct. After all, it wasn't a total lie. Singh sighed as he continued to go through the paper work.

Things used to be so simple.

He could never fully protect all of his officers, but he could hold them back when he felt the situation was too dangerous, or he could send in more experienced officers instead of the rookies, and when Barry had been grabbed as a hostage at a crime scene, David had been able to hold him back from going out for a month; putting a different CSI in his place until the heat died down and the guy was captured.

But now...now David couldn't protect him anymore.

And it bothered him. He could only imagine how Joe felt. It still blew his mind how they had managed to keep it a secret from him this long. And how the awkward, and goofy kid with lanky arms and legs who never quite grew into them, could be the _Flash_. A hero who risked his life every moment of the day for the rest of the city.

It was just _crazy_ to him.

A knock on his open door caused him to look up just in time to see the person he was just thinking about. Barry Allen stood in the doorway, awkwardly shuffling his feet as if he had been standing there for a little bit, unsure of how to get Singh's attention. Barry offered a closed and awkward smile; unsure of what to do.

"Allen. Come in." He said, and Barry glanced behind him for a brief moment, no doubt checking to see if anybody else was coming, because David just _knew_ that officers had been checking up on the poor kid, who was undoubtedly uncomfortable with all of the attention. _I wonder what would happen if they found out he was the Flash,_ David mused.

"Can I close this?" Barry asked, gesturing towards the wooden door and Singh nodded. Barry closed it before walking over to the table and just standing there, causing Singh to gesture for him to sit down. Once he was, Singh inhaled briefly before speaking up.

"So, I'm guessing that Joe told you about what I found out yesterday," David said, and Barry's jaw tensed lightly as he nodded, looking anywhere but at Singh.

"Y-yeah, he told me." He said, obviously uncomfortable. And Singh wondered what it was like, having to talk to your boss about your supposed to be secret superhero identity. "He said that you came to Star Labs after I fainted." This time Singh nodded.

"Mm-hmm." He hesitated for a moment, knowing that he needed to talk to Barry about this, but unsure on how to approach it. "You gave us quite a scare, you know." He said and Barry nodded, brows furrowing in a slight frown.

"Sorry, about that. I don't know what happened, really, I just-"

"I know that you've been fixing the city every night since the Singularity." Singh declared, effectively cutting off Barry's statement. Or rather, lie. Barry's jaw tensed as he finally looked up at him. And there was this _look_ on his face. And suddenly Barry didn't look like the twenty four year old kid that Singh knew, he looked like the Flash, a man who had seen far too many things in his short time of being a superhero.

"How do you know that?" He questioned, his voice unusually low.

"Well, there have been sightings of the Flash working all through out the night, and things don't just repair themselves. And I figured that if the Flash has been cleaning and fixing the city, then that means that you have, also." David stated and Barry nodded slowly.

"Look, I know that being the...Flash," Barry said, voice quieting with the word 'Flash'. "Is like being a vigilante which is...illegal, and would technically make me a criminal, so I..." Barry hesitated with a frown, as if just realizing that he indeed _was_ technically a criminal. "I would understand if you want to fire me. That's why you called me in here, after all, isn't it?" And just like that the kid had managed to once again leave David completely dumbfounded and shocked.

" _God_ , Barry, whatever gave you that idea?" Singh finally asked after a few moments of silence. Barry frowned, obviously puzzled, and slightly shocked by Singh's use of his first name.

"What do you-"

"I'm not going to fire you. Yes, vigilantism is not technically legal, but with all of the good that you do...I'm not going to fire you. And it's not like you just run around killing people; you _help_ people." Barry frowned with a slight shake of his head, not understanding.

"But I caused the Singularity. I'm the reason so many people died. Including E-Eddie." Barry stated, voice hitching at the name. Singh sighed.

"Barry, that wasn't your fault-"

"But it _was_. You can't blame anyone _but_ me, Captain. I caused that. There's no denying it." Singh sighed. Maybe there was a different approach to this.

"You might have been a part of the reason for it, but you stopped it. You saved so many people's lives, and-" Barry shook his head vehemently.

"No. No, that _wasn't me_. That was Ro-...Firestorm." Barry said, catching himself right at the last moment of revealing Firestorm's identity.

"But Barry...Firestorm couldn't have done it without your help." Singh declared, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. There was no way that this was Barry Allen; the happy, carefree kid he was used to. This...man was no kid. He was experienced, as if he had seen far too many horrible and awful things, and carried the weight of the world on his already heavily burdened shoulders. His eyes were...tired. Stressed, and no longer joyful.

"He wouldn't have _had_ to if it weren't for me. If I had only been fast enough..." Barry's voice trailed off,; leaving behind the bitterness and instead enveloping the self-loathing tone that Singh was all too familiar with. He had seen it in a lot of his officers when they had failed and lives were a resulting loss. But this...he imagined that this was far worse. Nobody could claim that Barry Allen was a naive and innocent kid. David sighed.

"I'm not going to change your mind, am I?" David questioned, and Barry lightly shook his head.

"Well, then listen to this; the Singularity didn't change any of our minds on how we feel about the Flash, so it shouldn't for you. The Flash is a hero, everyone knows it and believes it. But they don't know that the man behind the mask is a hero as well. And though you might not believe in yourself, we all believe in you. You didn't fail this city; you _saved_ this city." Barry opened his mouth to speak, but Singh cut him off.

"And lives were lost, yes. But that _happens_ , Barry. Look at any story with a hero in it and you'll find that there were lives that were lost. Lives that the hero couldn't save. But does that change how the people view him? _No_. If anything, it makes him even more of a hero because he will do _anything_ to make up for those lives."

"He will do whatever it takes to save someone; even if it results in him losing his own life. But there will always be those that he can't save. And even though that might cause the hero to lose faith in himself...it doesn't change how everyone else sees him. He's a hero even if he doesn't realize it." Singh declared firmly, watching as the other man stared at the desk, swallowing thickly.

" _Do_ you realize it?" David asked softly, and when Barry looked up, he knew the truth; Barry didn't know it. Singh inhaled deeply. "Okay." He breathed out. "Okay," He said quietly. This wasn't how he had wanted the conversation to go.

"You can...you can go now. That's all I wanted," He said, and Barry nodded before standing and heading towards the door. But when he opened the door, Singh stopped him. "But Barry," He said, and Barry slowly turned around to face him, and _God, this wasn't the kid that he knew._ "Think about what I said, alright?" David said and Barry nodded once.

"Alright." And with that final word, Barry left the room, leaving Singh by himself once more. This wasn't...right. At all. Someone so young shouldn't have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. He shouldn't have to go out there everyday and risk his life for people who barely even show gratification for it.

 _"I guess it's just the life of a hero,"_ , Joe's words resonated through David's mind.

 _Well, that's a pretty screwed up life to have,_ Singh decided.

And maybe he couldn't do anything about Barry constantly putting himself in harm's way, but he could do something about his self-care. It had really been slacking lately, which had been the start of this whole thing, after all.

Singh decided that he would start giving more work to the other CSI's, and stop pushing Barry so much. And he would definitely make sure that Barry started eating more and getting more rest. Maybe this _was_ the way of a hero's life...

But Singh would be damned if he didn't do something to make it better.

* * *

 **IT'S DONE! Was this last one any good? Sorry it's a little short compared to the last one, but hey, at least I delivered. ;) Don't forget to leave a review! I adore those things. :P**

 **Final question(!): What's your favorite thing about your favorite character? Mine would probably be Barry's boyish and joyful personality. I just love it. It just hits me with the feels haha. Tough question ( _again_ ) but I think that would probably be it. **

**Again: thank you all for riding this short but crazy roller-coaster with me! You all rock. ;D**


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